Rerooting is a rewarding experience, and dollyhair.com is happy to help you in your endeavors!

One of the first things you'll want to know is what exactly your doll's head is made of. If it's soft vinyl, like a Barbie doll has, you will be able to root your doll very easily. If your doll's head is made from a hard substance, your only option may be to glue the hair onto the head.

You have three options as far as the method you'll use for your reroot: You can root her with the needle and thread method, which is described in my reroot kit, or you can use the knot method. You can also use my NEW reroot tool, which is a much quicker method!

The NEW reroot tool: It consists of two needles inserted into a wooden dowel, one needle on each end. The smaller needle has had its eye sawed off at an angle, in order to create a prong. You would use this prong to push the hair into the doll's head. The larger needle is simply a sharp needle, used to poke the holes into the head in order to widen them for use with the pronged needle. This is not the most secure method to root your doll, but it's fairly secure, and you can make it 100% secure if you're able to remove the doll's head and put a little bit of glue inside it once your rerot is finished. DO NOT use krazy glue. It can seep out of the holes and stiffen your doll's roots, ruining your reroot. I prefer to use FABRI-TAC glue, made by Beacon Adhesives. I just squirt a little into the head and swirl it around with a q-tip to make sure that it gets into every little crevice. NOW, you may remember that I have always been concerned about the reroot tool made by other sellers. In fact, I used to warn people against using it because it can cause scalp splits. But I started thinking that the theory behind the design was pretty good. I decided to make a vast improvement upon the design of the tool, and I started making the tools myself. The pronged needle on MY reroot tool is VERY small... small enough not to cause scalp splits. My tool is also different from other sellers' reroot tools in that it is double-ended. Like I said, one end has the "standard" pronged needle, but the other end has a larger, pointed needle. If you poke through the holes in your doll's head with the pointed end, you will widen the holes enough to allow the pronged end to go through without causing scalp splits. I made my own dolls the "guinea pigs", and I've tested this tool on three dolls so far: a regular Barbie, a Silkstone Barbie, and a Tyler Wentworth doll... ALL of the reroots came out with GREAT success, and NO scalp splits! AND they went SO MUCH quicker than the needle and thread method!

The needle and thread method basically involves using a threaded needle to pull the plugs of hair into the doll's head. The plugs are secured by the string, which runs along the inside of the doll's head, just underneath the vinyl. The string is NOT visible unless you look inside the doll's head. The needle and thread method is extremely easy, extremely secure, and much less time consuming than the knot method. Also, it is never necessary to use any glue. You can brush the doll's hair without any concern about the plugs coming out. If you'd like to order my reroot kit, which includes illustrated instructions, a needle, and strong upholstery thread, please CLICK HERE.

The knot method is also used by a lot of doll customizers. It involves threading the hair through the needle's eye, pulling the needle through the hole, and knotting one end of the hair plug, which is hidden underneath the vinyl. Although there is nothing wrong with this method, per sey, it takes a LOT longer than the needle and thread method and the reroot tool, and it's not always easy to thread the hair through the needle's eye. Why waste your time with this method when there are two other methods that are quicker?

Both the needle and thread method and the knot method can only be used if you can remove the doll's head.

If you are an artist who sculpts dolls out of polymer clay, the aforementioned reroot tool is a great thing for you to use! Just push the hair plugs into the clay before you bake.

Here is a chart showing the three different rooting methods, and how they compare against each other:

Attention clay artists: My nylon hair is WONDERFUL to use on polymer clay dolls because it will withstand the heat of your oven. To find out more about this, please read the following testimonials:

"Hi, Tina. I received your three samples (saran, nylon, and regular hair) to test for heat resistance. The results were very interesting. I baked all three samples at the same time (in fact, I didn't even take them off the card.) They were baked at 250 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes. The results: The saran shrivelled up about 1/2 inch. (That's pretty dramatic considering that the sample was about 2 inches long--so about 25% shrinkage.) It also got kinda of krinkly. The regular hair didn't shrink but it lost its luster and shine. The nylon hair didn't shrink and, as far as I can tell, it appears to have maintained its shine and luster. So, just as soon as I get to it, I'm going to be ordering some of the nylon hair to use in a full fledged test (on a figurine)! Thanks for sending me the test pieces. You are welcome to share this information with your customers." Sincerely Marilyn Bowen

"I had to let you know that the nylon hair withstood a full 1 hour bake at 225f (which is the temperature and time at which I bake my cernit dolls) without shrinking or distorting. Additionally, the same hair still responded beautifully to a boil perm! I'm off to your site to place my order, thanx!!!!!!!" - Eileen Sterbach

Additionally, here is a general testimonial about the nylon hair:

"Hi Tina. I wanted to share with you some pics of my Jem doll which I re-rooted with Nylon hair I purchased from you. :) The Nylon hair is the closest hair I have found to Jem hair, so I am really happy with it! It is a touch different to the original modacrylic Jem hair, as the nylon is shinier, but still so close. You can even curl it with a curling iron which is great! I like that it is not as heavy as saran and it doesn't go static when brushing, so I just can't say enough great things about it. :):) I have shared my photos with some other Jem pals that also re-root dolls, so they will know the best place to purchase this hair and I will recommend it to any other people I come across wanting hair for Jem dolls. You are welcome to use this pictures on your site to show how the hair looks on a Jem doll if you like. :) The pic of two dolls is the comparison of a Jem doll with her original hair. Thanks again for such great hair for my dolls. I have a Roxy to do next with the 'Virgin Snow' and I will very soon be ordering more colors." *Rachael Prins*